Delhi Government Employees Welfare Association has written to the Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijla, seeking eviction of 120 members of Tablighi Jamaat who had been quarantined in a government school in the neighbourhood. Gulabi Bagh houses 2500 Government officers along with their 15,000 family members.
They have requested the Government to shift the Wuhan Coronavirus infected patients to a neighbourhood with less population. “They have been quarantined here ignoring the fact that most of the staff residing here, is on emergency duty to contain Novel Coronavirus”, the letter read.
The Tablighi Jamaat event at the Nizamuddin Markaz in Delhi held earlier in March has wreaked havoc in the country. Out of India’s 2500 odd cases, 647 have been linked to the congregation organised by Tablighi Jamaat, a staggering 28 percent of the total cases.
In Delhi too, the number of cases is increasing rapidly and most of these cases are related to Nizamuddin Markaz. Yesterday, Delhi reported 93 new cases and all the cases were related to the Tablighi Jamaat. However, the Delhi Minorities Commission has written a letter to the Delhi government urging it to drop the separate column of ‘Markaz Majid’ in its daily bulletins on coronavirus cases in Delhi.
Amidst the Coronavirus outbreak, the Delhi health department has been publishing a daily health bulletin giving out comprehensive details of coronavirus case status in the state. The daily health bulletin updates the: total number of coronavirus cases, new cases on that specific day, discharged and migrated out coronavirus patients, the total number of death as on that day in Delhi. It also has other three columns that have been mentioned under ‘source of cases’. The Tablighi Jamaat finds mention under this sub-heading, as ‘Markaz Related’.
The DMC Chairman Dr. Zafarul-Islam Khan alleged, “Your bulletins of Coronavirus victims are showing a separate column ‘Markaz Masjid’. Such thoughtless classification is feeding into the Islamophobia agenda of the lap media and Hindutva forces and has been easily turned into a handle to attack Muslims across the country.”
The Secretary-General of United Nations (UN) Antonio Guterres cautioned the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) on April 9 (Thursday) that the Coronavirus pandemic is threatening international peace and security as terrorists might use this opportunity to launch a bio-terror attack. The UN chief listed pressing risks to the world due to the pandemic as he spoke via video conference at the UNSC meeting on the Coronavirus impact. It was the first discussion of the UNSC on the pandemic.
Guterres in a short press statement said that the Coronavirus pandemic has provided a “window” into how a bio-terror attack might unfold across the world. He warned that that non-state groups could gain access to “virulent strains” that could pose similar devastation to societies around the globe.
Describing the battle against Coronavirus as the “fight of a generation – and the raison d’etre of the United Nations itself,” Guterres furthered: “While the COVID-19 pandemic is first and foremost a health crisis, its implications are much more far-reaching. The pandemic also poses a significant threat to the maintenance of international peace and security, potentially leading to an increase in social unrest and violence that would greatly undermine our ability to fight the disease.”
Terrorist outfits, he said, may see a window of opportunity to strike while the attention of most governments was turned towards the current coronavirus pandemic. “The weaknesses and lack of preparedness exposed by this pandemic,” the UN chief said, adding: “Provide a window onto how a bio-terrorist attack might unfold and may increase its risks.”
“Non-state groups,” he cautioned “could gain access to virulent strains that could pose similar devastation to societies around the globe”.
Guterres said that in some conflict settings, the uncertainty created by the pandemic may create incentives for some actors to promote further division and turmoil.
“This could lead to an escalation of violence and possibly devastating miscalculations, which could further entrench ongoing wars and complicate efforts to fight the pandemic,” he added.
Owing to the devastating effects of the coronavirus and the global efforts to combat the pandemic, the UN chief had on March 29 called for an immediate global ceasefire, urging all warring parties in conflict zones to suspend violence.
On Thursday, the UN chief said the engagement of the Security Council will be “critical in mitigating the peace and security implications of the COVID-19 pandemic”.
There are over 1.6 million positive coronavirus cases around the globe and over 95,000 people have been killed so far due to the deadly virus.
On Thursday, two unattended currency notes of ₹500 created a sense of panic among the residents in Paper Mill Colony, Lucknow. The locals insisted that the notes were kept on the road to deliberately transmit the Wuhan Coronavirus infection. Police suspect that the panic was triggered by a Whatsapp video that has also been doing the rounds on social media.
In the viral video, a woman can be heard saying that someone rang their doorbell and had left a ₹500 rupee note on the doormat. The son then sprayed sanitiser on the currency note and cautiously slid it under the neighbour’s door. He then retreated back into his room. The contentious video had created mass hysteria among the residents of Paper Mill Colony.
The cops were called in and a doctor was also briefed about the situation. The notes were kept separately for 24 hours. No police action has been initiated to track the video. While ensuring social distancing, the residents of the colony engaged in serious discussion beyond midnight about how currency notes were used to spread coronavirus. They only left to their respective houses after the police intervened.
The fear of the residents of Lucknow’s paper Mill Colony may well be grounded on certain events in the recent past. Earlier, the Nashik police had taken to Twitter to inform that a Muslim man, whose video of licking and wiping nose with a bunch of currency notes and calling Coronavirus a punishment by Allah was doing rounds on social media, was in the police custody. The Muslim man in the video used few 500 denominations notes to wipe his nose and mouth as he looked into the camera and said, “There is no cure for a disease like Corona because it is the punishment of Allah, for you people.”
On Thursday, Deputy Commissioner (Srinagar) Shahid Iqbal Chowdhury had revealed that about 800 people in the Kashmir Valley had concealed their travel history and thus worsened the outbreak of the Wuhan Coronavirus in the Union Territory.
He added, “All of them were later traced one by one and quarantined. Although their test results are awaited, there’s apprehension that some of them carried the Coronavirus from abroad and spread it in the Kashmir Valley.,”
800 people in valley hid travel history: Srinagar DC
Around 184 people in Jammu (32) and Kashmir (152) had been diagnosed with the deadly Chinese virus. However, the health authorities are awaiting the test results of 648 people who have a high probability of testing positive for Coronavirus. There are also about 6,112 low-risk cases in Srinagar. In order to control the vulnerable situation, around 1000 teams comprising of 4000 officials have been deployed in 25 zones in the city.
Dr Shahid said, “No shortage of medicine. Two aircraft of medicine have arrived on April 6 and 7 and one more is expected today. We will ensure to get the required medicine from any place across the country. It is our duty.” He also urged people to adhere to the social distancing guidelines.
SSP (Srinagar) Hasseb Mughal informed that the lockdown in the Kashmir Valley imposed in the wake of Coronavirus pandemic was not the usual law and order kind. He said that evening strolls would not be allowed and passes would be valid only from the place of stay to the place of work.
Delhi Police on Friday booked a local Congress leader, for not disclosing the fact that he had traveled to the Markaz Nizamuddin of Tablighi Jamaat, which has emerged as the country’s biggest Wuhan Coronavirus vector. The police have alleged that because of the Congress leader’s gross negligence, his village Deenpur in south-west Delhi has now been declared a containment zone, meaning it has been sealed off and movement of residents in and out of the place has been restricted.
Along with the former civic councillor, his wife, who is currently the area councillor and their daughter, the three have tested positive for the deadly contagion. The police have claimed that the Delhi Congress leader had deliberately hidden his travel details to the event organised by Tablighi Jamaat in Markaz Nizamuddin. When he was asked if he had visited any large religious gathering last month, he did not disclose his visit to Markaz, the police said. As per police, he was home quarantined at his residence in Deenpur village in Najafgarh. However, he was later found missing during physical verification of home quarantined persons.
An FIR had been lodged against him at Chhawla police station under Section 188 (disobedience to order duly promulgated by public servant), 269 (negligent act likely to spread infection of disease) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and other relevant sections of the Epidemic Diseases Act.
A police official said that when the Congress leader was probed further to ascertain the source of his contagion and the number of contacts he might have transmitted the disease to, it was revealed that he had hidden the details about his visit to Markaz Nizamuddin. “When we were investigating initially, he was not showing any symptoms. But later when we did technical investigations, his link was clearly established, that he had visited the Tablighi Jamaat gathering,” a police official said.
The police officials have alleged that he has not only imperiled the health of his family members, two of whom have tested positive for the infection, but his conduct has also posed a threat of the spread of the disease to the local community members.
The role of the Tablighi Jamaat in the spreading of the Wuhan Coronavirus in India came to light when thousands of Jamaatis were found holed up in the Markaz Nizamuddin in violation of all lockdown guidelines and orders. Subsequently, numerous people across several states of India who had attended the Islamic event at the Markaz Nizamuddin tested positive for the virus.
A 65-year old man who was infected by Wuhan coronavirus has reportedly succumbed to the disease in Silchar’s Medical college and hospital(SMCH) in southern Assam’s Barak Valley on Friday.
As per reports, The deceased has travel history from Saudi Arabia and he also had participated in the Nizamuddin Markaz event of South Delhi last month. The infection was detected on April 7 and he was admitted to Silchar Medical College and Hospital.
Regarding the incident Assam’s Health Minister Himanta Biswas Sarma tweeted, “With utmost Grief and sorrow, I would like to inform that Sri Faijul Haque Barbhyan, (65) Hailakandi District has expired a few minutes back in SMCH due to complication of COVID19 infection. My deep condolences and prayers for the bereaved family.”
With utmost Grief and sorrow,I would like to inform that Sri Faijul Haque Barbhyan,(65)Hailakandi District has expired few minutes back in SMCH due to complication of COVID19 https://t.co/MoRWPP4Bml deep condolences and prayers for the bereaved family
He was among the 29 people who were tested positive for the Wuhan coronavirus in the state of Assam. Apart from the cases in Assam, Manipur has reported 2 cases, while Arunachal Pradesh, Tripura and Mizoram have reported 1 case each.
The Nizamuddin Markaz event has turned into an epicentre for most of the Wuhan coronavirus cases across the country. The role of the Tablighi Jamaat in the spreading of the Wuhan Coronavirus in India came to light when thousands of Jamaatis were found holed up in the Markaz Nizamuddin in violation of all guidelines and orders. Subsequently, numerous people across numerous states of India who had attended the Islamic event at the Markaz Nizamuddin tested positive for the virus.
Maharashtra has so far clocked the highest number of positive Coronavirus cases including the number of deaths in the state. Amidst allegations of mismanagement by an inexperienced first-time Chief Minister, a marketing campaign was launched to show how CM Uddhav Thackeray was the best Chief Minister and was handling the pandemic rather effectively. While the suspicions about the PR campaign for Uddhav Thackeray were just about gaining wind, a tweet by actress and model Urvashi Rautela has given fuel to those speculations.
Hindustan Times in a recent fluff piece wrote how Urvashi Rautela was a habitual plagiarist when it came to tweeting on the micro-blogging website. The article said that she regularly ‘steals tweets’ from actor Sidharth Malhotra.
The article said: Actor Urvashi Rautela has definitely not learnt her lesson. After being called out by a US writer for copy-pasting his tweet about Parasite movie, she has once again plagiarised someone’s tweet. This time, Urvashi stole actor Sidharth Malhotra’s appreciation tweet for the Mumbai Police for implementing the coronavirus lockdown. “This is the time to heartily thank our Mumbai police, who are leaving their families at home & working with their high spirit and untiring efforts for our security and safety.. You guys are the real heroes #ThankYouMumbaiPolice,” Sidharth had written in his tweet.
The tweets being referred to by the Hindustan Times article were contributing to a hashtag on Twitter, #ThankYouMumbaiPolice. A hashtag under which several Bollywood celebrities had tweeted.
In the “original tweet” by Siddharth Malhotra which was posted on the 9th of April, Siddharth wrote, “This is the time to heartily thank our Mumbai police, who are leaving their families at home & working with their high spirit and untiring efforts for our security and safety.. You guys are the real heroes”.
Tweet by Siddharth Malhotra which might be a part of PR campaign by Mumbai Police
The “copied tweet” by Urvashi Rautela was on the same lines, contributing to the hashtag #ThankYouMumbaiPolice.
She wrote, “This is the time to heartily thank our @MumbaiPolice & Maharastra police, who leaving their families at homes are working with their high spirit and untiring efforts for our security and safety”.
Tweet by Urvashi Rautela which might be a part of PR campaign by Mumbai Police
The Hindustan Times reported that “Urvashi omitted just one line from the tweet and copied the rest of it, even the hashtags. “This is the time to heartily thank our @MumbaiPolice & Maharastra police, who leaving their families at homes are working with their high spirit and untiring efforts for our security and safety..#ThankYouMumbaiPolice#ThankYouMaharasthraPolice,” she wrote. A Twitter user called her out saying, “Please don’t copy paste Twitter messages , be original.””
This report did not go down well with Urvashi and she tweeted her passionate rebuttal to it. However, in an almost Freudian slip, she may have ended up revealing the coordinated campaign that was launched in Maharashtra.
Urvashi tweeted, “Oh really @htTweets we think its high time ! You guys should better focus on better content rather than focusing on her. Also it was a same tweet provided by @MumbaiPolice to @UrvashiRautela & @SidMalhotra which they had to post. No one copied anyone !!!!! Peace”
Tweet by Urvashi Rautela that revealed the PR campaign by Mumbai Police
The tweet read that it was the “same tweet” which was “provided” to “her and Siddharth Malhotra” to tweet and hence, “nobody copied anyone”. She also said that the tweet which was “provided” was by Mumbai Police.
Judging from her tweet, it would appear that the Mumbai Police has launched a PR campaign roping in Bollywood actors and actresses to play up their image and Maharashtra becomes the state with the most Coronavirus positive cases and the allegations of mismanagement against the Uddhav Thackeray government have been mounting.
Earlier, Bollywood celebrities were accused to be doing paid tweets for Uddhav Thackeray too, though that cannot be confirmed by OpIndia independently. Urvashi’s latest tweet, while it confirms that it’s a coordinated campaign, doesn’t clarify if it’s paid or not.
There were several people who raised questions on this coordinated campaign by the Mumbai Police as the Coronavirus pandemic gripped the state. One said that at this time, Mumbai Police should be focussing all their resources on fighting the pandemic, not going PR for themselves.
Another Twitter user called @UttamPatel also tweeted that the PR tweets were provided not just to Urvashi and Siddharth but many other Bollywood celebrities too.
The Coronavirus pandemic has turned everyone’s world upside-down. Other than being a pandemic and the obvious ramifications that come with the world grappling with millions affected and thousands dead, what the pandemic has revealed, however, are the hits and misses of our system of governance. Essentially, in a country of 1.3 Billion people, controlling a pandemic like this can be a near impossibility at worst, a nightmare at best. Amidst the chaos, the central government showed remarkable alacrity in its quest to control the virus. The sheer resilience of the medical workers, essential services personnel and the police force, that India often likes to criticise, rose to the occasion. In fact, until the Tablighi Jamaat case blew up, it almost seemed like India was fighting the pandemic with far more ease than the other countries. Even after the Tablighi Jamaat cases exploded, the decisiveness with which the central government and the state governments have acted in tracking, quarantining and testing, gives one immense hope.
However, in such dark times, while the collective mettle of a nation is tested, it is the gravity of leaders that is tested the most.
Earlier, a PR campaign was launched to show how “well” Uddhav Thackeray was handling the pandemic despite several missteps and mistakes that made Maharashtra the state with high Coronavirus cases in India.
The police in Ramgarh, Jharkhand had received information that some Tablighi Jamaatis were hiding in a camp deep inside the forest in Kuju. As per a report in Jagran, the police raided the location and found a hideout in Orla, Telenia forest in Kuju under the Mundu police station of Ramgarh District.
Kuju OP in-charge of Bharat Paswan led a team for the search operation. They spotted a tent made up of bamboo in the dense forest with the help of villagers. No one was found inside the tent instead there were few blankets for sleeping. The police set ablaze the tent and destroyed it on the spot.
As per reports, the police had received information from the locals that several people from Tablighi jamaat have been hiding in the forest of Orla Telenia. There were also reports that food and other provisions are being sent to them from Kuju every day. The Jamaatis had allegedly fled the place before the arrival of the police.
Last month, several foreign Tablighi Jamaat members were found hiding in a Mosque in Ranchi. It is notable here that all Tablighi Jamaatis who had attended the Nizamuddin Markaz have been ordered to reveal themselves to the authorities for quarantine. The Markaz event has been a coronavirus super-spreader.
Positive Cases of Wuhan coronavirus related to Tablighi Jamaat began erupted across the country after their event of Nizamuddin Markaz last month. The Tablighi Jamaat members are leaving no stone unturned in disrespecting the order of self-quarantine by the government authorities.
The Siwan district in Bihar has been sealed off after 23 members of a single-family were found coronavirus positive. As per reports, a person who had returned from Oman and did not follow home quarantine rules eventually ended up infecting 22 others.
The Bihar government has also deployed Bihar Military police to enforce strict lockdown and quarantine those who are affected.
As per a report in Deccan Herald, one person had a travel history from Oman who was residing with the family. He belongs to the Raghunathpur block returned to Siwan from Oman on 16 March, detected carrying the infection on 4 April till then he had travelled to several places in the district and ended up infecting 22 people of his own family including women and children.
Siwan is a muslim dominated area with 25 lakh population out of which alomost 50000 people are living abroad for livelihood.
A government official claimed that “Till April 10, out of 60 positive cases in Bihar, 23 belong to one particular family in Siwan. Eight others from the same district have reported being coronavirus patients, which effectively means half of the Bihar patients, who tested positive, belong to Siwan.”
Other than Siwan, Begusarai and Nawada have also been sealed. Bihar DGP Gupteshwar Pandey said, “It will be a curfew-type situation in the sealed areas where no one will be allowed to move out even to purchase milk or vegetables. All essential commodities will be provided to the needy by the government agencies.”
Apart from these districts, the roads leading to Gopalganj and East Champaran districts have been sealed too.
After a sudden rise in Wuhan coronavirus cases in India due to the Tablighi Jamaat super-spread, many places in India have now been sealed off. UP has sealed 15 districts, Madhya Pradesh has sealed 14 districts while Delhi has sealed off 20 worst hotspots.
The Telangana police arrested two youths on Wednesday for launching an attack on police constable at Chandrayangutta after an argument. According to reports, on Sunday evening, constable P Praveen Kumar was present at the State Bank of India customer service point on his duty, where he was reportedly attacked by the two youths with a lathi. The suspects had attacked the constable and fled from the spot.
The suspects identified as Shaik Mohammed Ameeruddin (21), a mechanic, and Shaik Saif Mohiuddin (24), an electrician, are residents of Gulshan Iqbal Colony in Chandrayangutta.
Both of them have been arrested now, said Rudra Bhaskar, Station House Officer Chandrayangutta.
According to the reports, the issue started around 3 pm when Ameeruddin went to SBI customer service point along with his grandmother to withdraw pension of Rs 500. While Ameeruddin was standing on the road after parking his vehicle, Praveen came to the spot on his motorcycle and they got into an altercation.
Later, Ameeruddin returned to the place along with his friend and hit the policeman with a lathi resulting in bleeding injuries. The constable was shifted to a private hospital at Kanchanbagh where he is undergoing treatment.
At a time when the policemen are risking their lives to limit the spread of the Chinese epidemic, several mobs have launched attacks on them ever since lockdown was announced across the country.
Just yesterday, a video had now gone viral in which it was seen a group of 5 men, including one minor assaulting police officers at Annabhau Sathe junction near the District Collector’s office in the city of Aurangabad in Maharashtra.
Police personnel were deployed in the area to check on people who were deliberately violating lockdown guidelines or out on a joy ride in their private vehicles. When the cops stopped a two-wheeler for persons going triple-seat, the trio began arguing with the police. The Muslim mob then snatched the stick and resorted to brutally assaulting the cop.
Earlier, two men identified as Tajuddin and Kutubuddin who had brutally thrashed two policemen for stopping them for breaching a check post during the nationwide lockdown were arrested by the Bengaluru police on March 26. Reportedly, the accused were over-speeding and performing stunts on bikes during the lockdown.
